Acts 1 – Pastor Paul

In the last chapters of his gospel account and now in the first chapter of Acts, Luke, the doctor/historian/lawyer, makes a solid case for the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He was visible, appearing to individuals and large groups (mass, identical hallucinations don’t happen) over a 40-day period. His was physical – flesh, bones and organs that carried scars and consumed food. Luke lists the witnesses, who were still alive when these records were published. If these facts were not verified, if they had been honestly contested, we would not be reading them today.

Everything hinges on the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ – our ability to repent from sin, receive complete forgiveness, and rely on the Holy Spirit of God in the depths of our being and in our day to day lives. They are also the interpretive key to all of Scripture (Jesus re-interpreted the law and the prophets in their light and Peter used them to pull meaning out of two obscure lyrics in the psalms.)

As we live waiting for his glorious, in-the-sky return, it is the Holy Spirit that gives us the power to live lives whose only explanation is the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. May we live fact-based lives today.